


Talk Me Down

by sourcressdies



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Akabane Karma Has ADHD, Akabane Karma Needs a Hug, Akabane Karma is a Little Shit, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cute Shiota Nagisa, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Like very minor, Minor Character Death, Shiota Nagisa Is A Good Friend, Shiota Nagisa Needs a Hug, Suicidal Thoughts, have i put too many tags?, karmagisa if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29860266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sourcressdies/pseuds/sourcressdies
Summary: A not-so-pleasant video brings up a long overdue conversation between everyone's two favourite idiots.Addresses stuff that happened in episode 3, "Karma Time!"
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	Talk Me Down

**Author's Note:**

> hey, this is my first fic on here (wonder what that says about me lol) so please leave a comment or kudos if you like. constructive criticism is definitely welcome :)

Karma stretches his arms above his head and yawns widely. He’s definitely regretting not skipping today. The vending machine’s out of strawberry milk, Bitch-sensei won’t shut up and lunch is a whole half hour away. Not to mention that they’re meant to hand their work in after this period and he has written precisely nothing on the paper in front of him. He doesn’t want to lose the wager against principal jr. but it’s looking like he won’t have a choice in the matter. He just can’t concentrate, staring at the page, pen poised, wasting another 5 minutes thinking of what to say and then going off on multiple tangents. How did he get to the connection between radioactive bananas and Sonic Ninja again?

_“That’s what I get for forgetting my meds I guess.”_

The last thing he wants is for Asano’s ego to get even bigger. At this rate Karma won’t be able to tell him to shove it up his ass—it wouldn’t fit. He doesn’t bother to stifle his snort at the thought of second place’s suffering, and lucky for him he doesn’t have to. He’s been thinking all the way through to lunch. Sourly he remembers the lack of strawberry milk as he stands up and heads to his locker. Bento in hand, he quickly scans the room for that shock of blue hair which always promises entertainment.

Nagisa’s sitting at his desk, surrounded by a passionate Nakamura, a horrified Sugino and a Kayano who seems to be switching wildly between the two, as if she’s not sure which reaction’s better suited to the situation. Nagisa’s looking pretty stressed as Nakamura gestures to her phone. Karma focuses on his expression and wonders what the hell Nakamura’s got her hands on now. Maybe another dress pic? Hey wait, they have a bet running to see who can get Nagisa into a bikini first, what if she won? Karma’s not paying up without proof. He saunters over to the group.

“What’s got your panties in a twist blondie?”

Karma’s expecting a glare in response, but Nakamura can’t seem to work past her reaction to whatever’s on her phone. She doesn’t even spare him a glance—rude—but passes the phone to him while continuing to the other three: “He didn’t even hesitate, he just fell-”. The video’s already been viewed 6 million times, only having been posted the day before yesterday. Karma presses play.

It sounds windy and whoever’s filming fumbles with their phone for about 5 seconds before the screen goes from black to a grainy sort of grey. The camera focuses on a road and then swings up and to the right, to a railing with 4 people in the same spot. Some part of Karma registers that it’s a bridge, and the rest slots into place perfectly after that. The person filming runs closer, and voices become audible:

“Hey, don’t move ok?”

“Just climb back over, you’re gonna be fine,”

“Who’s gonna feed your cat if you’re gone?”

The sounds coming from the man holding the railing are intermittent, but he doesn’t appear to be crying. He looks relaxed—his shoulders are sagging and there’s a soft smile on his lips. Occasionally he answers the people behind him, not loud enough to make out the words through the shitty sound of the video. Mostly, he just gazes at the thick, fast current below him. He suddenly turns around to face the other three.

“I love you guys.”

And just as Nakamura said, he fell.

Karma’s tingling, hands, feet, face, flushed and chilled at the same time. He hands the phone off to Nakamura and she turns and stares demandingly at him.

“So? What do you think?”

Karma shrugs nonchalantly. “Cool I guess.”

Nakamura gapes at him. “The guy just threw himself off of a bridge!” she exclaims, loud enough to attract Nagisa, Sugino and Kayano’s attention, “What the fuck do you mean, _cool I guess_?"

Nagisa’s looking at him worriedly. Shit.

“I just saw the comments, he survived right? That’s cool,” he lies easily.

Of course, he’d seen nothing of the sort, and just from watching the video any idiot could tell that he didn’t live past hitting the water. Luckily, 3 out of the 4 around him un-tense and Nakamura visibly winds down from the rant she’s about to go on, abandoning it in favour of: “Weren’t you paying attention, you stupid strawberry? There’s no way he made it!”

Karma pointedly ignores Nagisa’s scrutiny and perches on the older’s desk, zoning out when Sugino continues the conversation—“I just can’t believe he did it!”. Karma wonders how the person managed to get that close to be filming, and tries to ignore the tingling in his hands. Fuck this. He gets up and heads outside, binning his lunch on the way. Meandering closer and closer to the woods, he chances a look to his left, where he planned an assassination attempt that he thought would never fail. He almost turns that way—almost—before continuing towards the trees ahead of him.

“Karma. Hey, Karma! Karma stop!”

He glances back over his shoulder to see tiny-but-deadly running towards him, panting. He sighs and slows down, plastering a smirk on his lips.

“What brings you here then, sweetheart?” he teases, light humour colouring his tone.

Nagisa stops, fixing his eyes on Karma’s with his piercing gaze. “You probably calculated the rate at which he hit the water by accident, Karma. I know you know he died,” Nagisa says bluntly.

“And what do you want me to do about it?” Karma’s eyes narrow but he maintains his relaxed smirk.

“Everyone was so shocked because his friends were all there, talking the guy down and convincing him that he was worth it, yet he still jumped. You watched a man jump to his death and you were totally unfazed. Explain.”

Karma sticks his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “You’re reading way too much into this Nagisa-”

“No I’m _not_!” Nagisa’s sudden shout seems to surprise him as well as Karma. He scrubs a hand over his face frustratedly. His fists clench and he ploughs on, “No I’m not. You-You jumped, that time, you just fell backwards and you _knew_ it would kill you and I know sometimes you act recklessly but this was different because you were thinking about it and I could see you weighing it all up-”

“Whoa, Nagisa, take a breath-”

“I’m not finished don’t you _dare_ try to redirect!” Karma sarcastically mimes a zip across his lips and gestures for Nagisa to continue.

“You sat there, on that branch, and you were thinking, and I know you didn’t trust sensei to save you and even if you had, you knew that you’d die either way, because if he didn’t save you, you were instantly dead, and if he tried? You’d just shoot him and he wouldn’t have a chance anyway, and neither would you!”

Nagisa’s face is screwed up, his eyes are wet and his cheeks are red. Perfect. Exactly what Karma doesn’t want.

“Look, Nagisa, that was just me being impulsive-”

Nagisa _howls_ in anger, desperation?

Karma doesn’t know what to do.

“Ok, ok look. Just- stop crying alright? You’re getting your pretty face wet,” Karma places a hand on Nagisa’s head, “I’m sorry ok? I didn’t realise that it had that effect on you, I- how do I fix this?”

Nagisa sniffs and rubs his red nose on his sleeve. Karma uses his thumb to wipe away the tears. “Come on Nagisa, talk to me?”

Karma knows what’s coming, and sighs internally. The onslaught he predicts—“Do you want to die?” “Why? Your life is amazing!” “You have so much to live for!” “But people care about you!” “Why so selfish?”

Nagisa looks up with fire in his eyes.

“When you watched that video… what did you see?”

Taken aback, Karma scrambles for words, “Y’know, black, grey, a bridge, people, yada yada-”

“No, Karma, I mean, what did you see in _him_?”

He pauses. He sighs. Honesty about this… it isn’t easy. But Nagisa deserves to know. So Karma begins hesitantly.

“I… relief? He-He just… he was so _tired_ , and the water was right there, and he was one step away from- from _nothing_. A-And he was so peaceful and calm and he was certain in what he wanted and don’t you think that when you can’t talk them down you should just let them be, because you can see that the hope’s drained out of their eyes and they know that there’s no greener grass and wouldn’t it just be kinder to let that selfish idiot go because he doesn’t have enough fight in him to even consider stepping back-”

Nagisa barrels into him and sobs, big heaving cries that you don’t experience often past 6 years old, and Karma, dazed, tired, slowly realising that he just said that all out loud, buries his face in Nagisa’s shoulder and trembles violently with his silent sobs. He wraps his arms around the small boy in front of him who is terrifying, who he doesn’t understand, who has the biggest heart of anyone he’s ever known. They stay like that for who knows how long, well into their maths lesson, when Nagisa slowly raises his head, and giving Karma a red-eyed, watery smile, says, “Karma? Let’s go home.”

And they both forgo their things in the classroom, Nagisa texting his mum to let her know that he’ll be sleeping over at a friend’s (for homework purposes of course). They walk back to Karma’s place, and head upstairs. Nagisa goes to the guest bedroom, changing into clothes that he and Karma got for him from the men’s section and tying his hair in a low ponytail, while Karma undresses in his room and makes a beeline for the shower. Nagisa hears the water turn on and goes downstairs, sighing shakily.

 _“That’s what he saw in that guy, that’s what he felt… what if he acts on it? He’s my best friend, I don’t know if I could take it—not to mention the fact that he seems totally unaware of what he means to those around him. The shock when I cried for him was genuine but I don’t understand it! How can one person hide all of that within themselves? Is he seriously that oblivious to how much he’s worth? We need to talk about so much…”_ Nagisa inhales and exhales. _“He’s tired, I’m tired. It can wait ‘til tomorrow. I’m going to be with him and I swear, nothing will happen to him!”_

Having found a new resolve, Nagisa sets some milk to heat and takes two mugs out of the cupboard above him—no, he’s not on tiptoes thank you very much—getting marshmallows and whipped cream while he waits.

 _“Ok, we’re going to have the best time ever, hot chocolate, check, blankets, check, movie…”_ —his gaze drifts up to the shelf which is decidedly out of reach— _“guess I’ll just wait for Karma to come down. Is there anything that I’m miss-”_

“Boo.”

Nagisa lets out a manly shriek and whirls around, whacking Karma’s shoulder, “Don’t _do_ that!”

Karma’s laughing hysterically, mirth shining in his eyes, “But you screamed so loud, it’s like- fuck-” he’s laughing still, trying to stop himself, “it’s like that time when we were 13 and you-”

“Shut _up_ Karma!” And just like that, he’s sent careening back into hysterics. Every time he tries to calm down Nagisa’s face sends him again. Eventually, he clears his throat and, suppressing a smile, looks at Nagisa, “Ok, ok, I’m done, sorry.”

His gaze drifts to the counter and he chokes back a chuckle. “Uhm, Nagisa… how did you expect to make hot chocolate… without anything chocolatey?”

Nagisa follows his line of sight and blushes red. “Ah… I’ll just get it out…”

The noise that escapes Karma is very unattractive. “Nagisa. Darling, Nagisa. Sweet, darling, precious, _tiny_ Nagisa...”

Karma faces Nagisa’s inquisitive gaze and feels a wave of something towards the boy in front of him. He bites back a smile, attempting to preserve Nagisa’s dignity, just this once.

“The cocoa powder’s in the top cabinet.”


End file.
